Shloka 13

उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations

Devanagari script

प्रभद्रकाश्न॒ पञज्चाला: षट्सहस्रा: प्रहारिण:

Transliteration

prabhadrakāś ca pañcālāḥ ṣaṭsahasrāḥ prahāriṇaḥ

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Die Prabhadrakas und die Pañcālas — sechstausend an der Zahl — rückten als grimmige Angreifer vor und schlugen mitten im Kampf zu.

Word by Word

• प्रभद्रकाः: the Prabhadrakas (a people/warrior-group)
• प्रभद्रकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभद्रक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पञ्चालाः: the Panchalas
• पञ्चालाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्चाल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• षट्सहस्राः: six-thousand (in number)
• षट्सहस्राः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षट्सहस्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रहारिणः: strikers/attackers; those who smite
• प्रहारिणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रहारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• प्रभद्रकाः (Prabhadrakas)
• पञ्चालाः (Pañcālas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights collective resolve and the momentum of armed duty in a righteous-war framework: large bodies of warriors act as a single force, showing how allegiance and obligation can drive intense violence, inviting reflection on the moral weight of mass conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that the Prabhadrakas together with the Pañcālas, numbering six thousand, are actively attacking—depicting a significant Pañcāla-aligned contingent pressing the fight during the Drona Parva battles.